October 8, 1920

The third anniversary of the October Revolution is approaching, which must be marked by the provision to our heroic Red Army, as well as to the child and laboring population, of at least a modest quantity of enhanced rations. Confident that this appeal will meet with a lively response from you, I ask you now, without delaying a single day, to organize and dispatch to the address: Moscow—People's Commissariat for Food, for the October anniversary, seven shipments of white flour, one shipment per day, telegraphing me and the People's Commissariat for Food concerning the date of dispatch. Simultaneously with this, an order is being issued by the People's Commissariat of Railways regarding the passage of these shipments on equal terms with military trains. Notify the Food Distribution [Department] of both receipt and dispatch.

*Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars*

Lenin

# REMARKS ON THE REPORT OF THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSAR OF FINANCE
October 12, 1920

1) It is necessary to add which rubles and convert to gold rubles or express approximately in dollars.

2) What are you doing with the opened and sorted valuables? Gukovsky* said that he can sell them legally. This must be done with the utmost speed.

3) How many people are working in the State Repository?

4) How many boxes (or rooms, or places approximately) have been opened out of how many total?

With communist greetings,

Lenin

# REMARKS ON A LETTER FROM A. PESHKOV (M. GORKY)
October 21, 1920

In the month of February 1919, on the proposal of People's Commissar Krasin, an "Expert Commission" was organized in Petrograd by A. Peshkov, the purpose of which consisted of: the selection and assessment of objects of artistic significance in 33 nationalized warehouses in Petrograd, unattended apartments, pawn shops and antique stores. These objects were selected for the purpose of creating in the Soviet Republic an antique export fund.

By October 1, 1920, the "Expert Commission," working with a staff of 80 people under the chairmanship of A. Peshkov, had formed two warehouses of selected objects numbering up to 120,000 various items, such as: artistic antique furniture, paintings of various epochs, countries and schools, Russian, Sèvres, Saxon and other porcelain, bronze, artistic glass, ceramics, antique weapons, objects of Oriental art, etc.

* Soviet plenipotentiary in Estonia.